Hi,
My name is Katie and I'm going to be guiding you for the next few moments.
So let's settle in and find a posture that you can maintain.
Doesn't matter if you're seated or lying down.
Just go ahead and allow yourself to become present.
Just allow yourself to settle in and surrender into the cushion beneath you.
Notice how you've placed the hands in the lap,
The feet on the floor.
And when you feel like you can maintain this posture for the next few moments,
Go ahead and shut down the eyes.
And we'll start the practice by simply connecting to our breathing just as it is.
Go ahead and take a nice deep inhale.
And letting it go,
Settle into the posture a little bit more.
And just take a few breaths here in and out through the nostrils or through an open mouth,
Whichever feels more comfortable.
And you may begin to deepen the breath.
See if you can take a breath that travels from the nostrils past the throat,
The chest deep into the belly,
Filling the belly.
And then exhaling,
Letting go and releasing the breath back from the belly through the chest,
Throat,
And either the nostrils or through an open mouth.
Either way on that exhale,
Let yourself really let go and surrender into your posture just a little bit more.
And we'll let the breath just be our guide here for a few minutes,
Softening as we breathe.
There's no need to change the breath or manipulate it in any way.
We're just going to let it come and go just as we are thoughts.
So we're going to let those breaths and those thoughts come into our awareness.
And without holding on or grasping for either one,
We're just going to let the breath and the thoughts come and go without getting caught up in them.
And we're going to use the body as our anchor in this practice today.
So beginning at the top of the head,
We'll simply take note of what the body feels like as we practice today.
So noticing your scalp and your forehead.
As you take a deep breath into the belly,
Can you release any tension you're holding onto at the top of the head?
Feeling this waterfall just dropping down from the top of the head,
Past the brow,
Releasing anything you're holding onto.
You might notice sensations,
Tingling or pain.
And just let that waterfall of awareness wash it away.
And we'll take another deep breath in and out.
And as we do,
We'll let our awareness travel down the front of the face,
The eyes,
Behind the eyes,
Under the eyes,
The bridge of the nose,
Noticing the sinuses,
Cheekbones.
Breathing into the ears,
The jaw.
Jaw's off in a place where we hold a lot of tension.
So go ahead and breathe in and out and let that waterfall of soothing,
Relaxing energy travel down the face,
The teeth and the gums and the tongue.
Just let it rest.
Breathing in and out,
Noticing the neck and the throat.
Bringing your awareness and the waterfall down the front of the body from the shoulders down through the chest area,
The heart space,
All the way deep into the belly.
Breathing in and out here.
Just acknowledging and noticing what you bring to the cushion today.
What stress or strain are you holding onto in the front of the body?
And can you let that just wash away with the inhale and the exhale?
And then from the back of the body,
The shoulders down the spine and the rib cage deep into the lower back,
Letting that tension just wash away.
Letting any pain pop into your awareness.
And then as you breathe in and out,
Let it go.
Just let it travel through your awareness without lingering or calling for your attention.
Just let it pass through just like a breath.
Noticing your arms once again from the shoulders all the way down the triceps to the elbows and the forearms into the wrists and hands.
Noticing and letting go,
Letting the arms hang,
Letting the arms soften.
Noticing any sensations in the arm,
Any sensations in the hands.
Just let them be as they are.
There's no need to change them,
Just observing and allowing.
There's no need to cling or grasp onto the pleasant feelings and push away any unpleasantries.
Just sit with whatever you have here in this moment in time.
And then bringing that waterfall of attention and awareness to the lower half of the body from the hips and the pelvic region down the front of the legs,
Past the knees and the shins into the ankles and the tops of the feet.
And then down past the buttocks,
Thighs,
Glutes,
All the area around the legs,
Those big muscles down into the calves.
Once again,
The back of the ankles and the heels,
The soles of the feet and each of the toes can you breathe in and out.
And just allow the sensations of the lower half of the body to be just as they are.
Coming back to your breathing.
Using your body,
Just settle into a nice inhale and exhale.
Noticing if there are any thoughts and just bring your attention back to the body,
Back to your posture and your body in this moment in time,
Sitting or lying down in the room that you've chosen to practice with me today.
And just as we near the end of our practice,
We'll take in any sounds or smells coming from the room.
Just taking a few more breaths here in and out.
Using the body this moment,
This treasured time of just settling in and observing and resting and letting go.
Letting those sounds around you come into your awareness.
Only when you're ready,
You can go ahead and just gently move the ankles and the wrists in circles.
You might nod the head or move the neck from side to side.
And when you're feeling as if your body and your mind and your breathing are all in a place where they're ready to greet the rest of your day,
You can go ahead and open the eyes and go back to whatever you have ahead of you.
I wish you a good day and I look forward to practicing with you again sometime here on Insight Timer.
Thanks so much for joining me today.
